Chap. VI. ANTIENT. ^METAPHYSICS. 375 



marks of honour and refpedt they could flicnv them, and particularly 

 by offerings. Theie, at firft, were the fruits of the earth, and parti- 

 cularly the firft fruits of every year. Of this, the memory was pre- 

 ferved in Fgypt in later times, when they prefented to the goddefs, 

 His, handfulls of the firft fruits of the corn of every year. And, in 

 Greece, the memoiy of thofe hloodlefs offerings was preferved in 

 the ifland of Delos, where, in later times, there was ftill to be feen 

 an altar that never had been ftained with blood, upon which, they 

 offered nothing to the Gods except the fruits of the earth. But 

 when men began to eat flefli, and efteemed it the moft valuable part 

 of diet, it was natural that they ihould prefent to their Gods facri- 

 fices of animals. And this ' was thought fo much a relieious duty 

 that, of Gverj animal, which they killed for eating, fome part was 

 offered to the Gods, and this part they offered before they beo-an 

 to eat of the animal : So that it was a kind oi primitiae, which they 

 threw into the fire and burnt as an offering to the Gods, calling it 

 9vi}J.ov. And hence it is, that in the language of Homer, to kill a 

 beaft for eating, is Taid to be ^rcoivav^ that is to facrijice it. And 

 by the law of INIofes it was enjoined, that every man, that killed an 

 ox, a lamb, or a goat, fnould bring it to the door of the tabernacle to 

 offer it as an offering to the Lord j and this is enjoined under the 

 pain of death *. And they not only courted their favour, by 

 facrificing fingle animals at different times, but by hecatombs of 

 them at one time, upon feme particular occafions. And, as the 

 more precious the animal was, they thought the facrifice to the 

 Gods would be the more acceptable, they carried the matter fo 

 far, in fome nadons, that they facrificed even animals of their own 

 fpecies, and fomeiimes their own children, which, as they were the 

 deareft to them of all things, they thought would be the moft ac- 

 ceptable to the Go is. And as thefe Gods had the fenfe of fmell, 

 as well as other fenfes, they imagined that they would be pleafed 



with 

 * Leviticus, chnp. 17. v. 3. &c. 



